It’s that journalists couldn’t really give a damn about you or your company. Brutal but true.
I was once on a lunch with a senior hack from a national newspaper and the MD of a client, an established UK brand. Now this hack is a legendary ball-breaker and doesn’t tolerate PR fluff or pitches or any corporate messaging nonsense.
Before the lunch I did warn said client about this and that we were there to talk primarily about the market, not his company, other than a cursory breakdown of who they were and what they were about – you know, a quick intro.
So what did he do? He proceeded to try and tell the hack at length about the recent merger between his company and another company, which went down – as you can imagine – like a lead balloon.
Out of the blue, and quite loudly in a quiet restaurant, the hack announced she didn’t give a damn about his merger, all she wanted was a goddam story – and was he going to give her one?
I howled with laughter, as she’d said it mainly in jest, and the client quickly joined in, but underneath the laughter he certainly got the message. So we soon got back to the market – and the story at hand.
The moral of this tale, as above, is that journalists don’t really care a hoot for your company – or you. All they want is a story, or some useful/insightful/informative information that will add value to a story that they are already writing, which will be of interest to their readers.
So focus on giving them stories and you’ll be quids in.
Dominic Hiatt is director at Just In Time PR and Rhizome PR
Disclaimer: Mortgage Solutions applauds the overall thrust of Dominic’s blog but would draw the distinction that its journalists DO give a damn and sometimes about both you and your company..The Editor.
